Another World Discussion Thread

[j swift]

I think the recast works mostly in the post-murder scenario.  Jake forced Paulina to marry him in order to avoid prosecution (which as I recall is one of the few times in soap history where nobody was ever punished for her crime).  Cali played the dynamic as Paulina was a victim to Jake's threats, however, at the same time, the writers were trying to resuscitate Jake as a romantic lead after he raped Marley.   Judy's performance was much more like two con artists trying to one-up each other.  I don't like any of the follow-up of Judy as Paulina, (including that they lost the thread that she had been raised in South America),  however, I understand the need to play the character as more self-assured. 

 

I think it falls apart quickly with the introduction of Ian Rain because they try to play Paulina as a seductress again when she had already been played a bit ruffer.  I don't think the Amanda/Paulina relationship should have built upon competing for the same guys.  I would have preferred that their differences were based more in their upbringings with Paulina being more street smart and Amanda being more traditionally educated, and each learning the lesson of how to rely on each other's strengths.  It did not work as well that summer when they were both flopping around the Cory pool (or the Harrison mansion) trying to out coquette each other to compete for a guy's attention.  At those times it was difficult to differentiate Paulina from Vicky, and they should have been two distinct characters.

Edited April 22, 2019 by j swift

[j swift]

Today I learned: Mac got it on with Elizabeth Love?  What a cad!

 

ANOTHER WORLD: Week of February 28 - March 4, 1983 (a few weeks into the introduction of the Loves, right after Steve's death, and Rachel is blind)

Felicia warned Cass she won’t tolerate him seeing other women; but he secretly bedded Cecile.  Mac convinced Sandy to have a blood test.  Using an accent, Mac got close to Rachel by posing as hospital administrator John Caldwell.  Larry was pleased that RJ wants to follow in Bob’s footsteps and be a cop.  Donna was interested to learn that Mac once loved her mother.  Liz was smitten by Mac’s British novelist pal, Reggie Fearing.  Rachel had therapy sessions with Linda Taggert.

 

 

A couple of thoughts: (a)How did Mac find the time to be at the hospital every day and practice an accent? (b)How amazing would it have been if Peter Love was the red herring in finding out that Sandy was Mac's son? (c) Subsequent writers always forgot that Mac didn't move to Bay City until right before he met Rachel.

Edited April 23, 2019 by j swift

[amybrickwallace]

I think you should have been a writer on this show. Great points!

[chrisml]

Judi Evans as Nancy would have been an excellent choice. I suppose the show didn't want to pay for two actresses so just shoehorned Evans into the role of Paulina, but her Paulina just never made sense. I always felt that way about Buchanan's Vicky and her disastrous Marley. Vicky lost so much of her spunk and energy and Wheeler wiped Buchanan off the screen when she returned to the show. I'm missing AW a lot today, but I'm not sure why because the show was never stable or consistent starting in 1991. It seemed as if the show was a new one every year. I'd get invested in characters, and a new producer would fire them. I stopped watching consistently when Frankie was killed off. I could put up with the Justine mess, but not killing off Frankie just for effect. 

[amybrickwallace]

Robin Strasser in her Rachel days, 1971:

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[watson71]

Another World premiered on May 4, 1964- 55 years ago this week.  What do you consider the 55 most significant events in AW history?  I created the list below in order of importance.

 

1. Rachel kills Janice Frame trying to save Mac.

2. Rachel tells Alice that she is pregnant with Steve's child.

3. The death of Mac Cory.

4. Mac learns that Rachel is carrying Mitch's baby on the witness stand.

5. Pat Matthews has an illegal abortion in 1964.

6. The death of Ada Hobson.

7. Mac announces that Amanda is his first born daughter, not Iris.

8. Mac learns that Iris is The Chief.

9. Donna Love learns she gave birth to twins Marley and Victoria

10. Felicia's friends stage an intervention for her alcoholism.

11. Grant shoots Ryan on the train trestle.

12. Mary Matthews dies on Good Friday in St. Croix.

13. Crystal Gayle and Gary Morris sing the Another World theme at TOPS.

14. Pat Matthews kills Tom Baxter.

15. Carl and Rachel's courtship in New York City.

16. Steve Frame dies in a helicopter crash in Australia 

17. Liz Matthews plots to keep Bill and Missy apart

18. Hour long experimental episode- the wedding of Alice and Steve - 1974

19. The 25th Anniversary of Victoria Wyndham as Rachel Cory Hutchins

20. The 20th Anniversary of Another World- Alice Frame returns and David Thatcher is murdered.

21. Pat Matthews kills Tom Baxter

22. Cecile is alive in Majorca; Sally and Catlin discover that Emily Benson is the killer

23. Sally and Catlin's wedding- Brittany is alive

24. Paulina Cory shoots Jake McKinnon

25. The 25th Anniversary of Another World on the cruise ship.

26. The death of William Matthews begins the continuing story of Another World.

27. Cecile almost marries Peter Love before he collapses on Carl's yacht

28. The double wedding of Mac and Rachel and Sandy and Blaine

29. Ada gives birth to Nancy in a late in life pregnancy

30. The 30th Anniversary of Another World- the 60s party

31. The Case of the Stolen Heart

32. Murder on the Honeymoon Express- The Vanishing Game

33. Lorna Devon is the daughter of Felicia and Lucas.

34. Vicky "dies" and is reunited with Ryan in heaven.

35. Felicia is framed for the murder of Jason Frame

36. Liberace entertains at Felicia and Zane's wedding.

37. Sandy kills Buzz and rescues Blaine in Wyoming

38. Vicky is rescued by Ryan riding horses in the field

39. Iris gives Rachel the audio tapes of Alice and Eliot

40. The final episode of Another World June 25, 1999

41. Sally Frame Ewing dies in a car crash

42. Cecile kidnaps Cass and takes him to St. Thomas

43. John Randolph dies trying to save Alice from the burning cottage.

44. Rachel gives Alice a nervous breakdown

45. The death of Wallingford

46. Amanda is pregnant with Sam's baby.

47. Jamie falls for Marley in the French Riviera

48. John Hudson is thrown from the lighthouse by the Sin Stalker- Dr. Alan Glaser

49. Summer Desire- Another World's only prime time episode

50. Michael Hudson and Shane Roberts are killed in a snowstorm.

[j swift]

Great list, well done Watson71 - I listed 10 events that signaled new eras of AW storytelling, some good, some not so good

 

1. Amanda Cory's Winter Debutante Ball - creating the iconic opening sequence shots of Iris, Rachel, and Amanda in white gowns

 

2. Victoria Hudson returns with faux baby Kirkland which eventually pushed Grant Harrison to the brink of insanity

 

3. Clarice Hobson gives birth to Robert Delaney's son Cory solidifying Iris as the HBIC

 

4. The KBAY Telethon and the final appearance of Lindsay Lohan as Ali Fowler

 

5. Cass Winthrop loses money to Tony the Tuna and has live in drag as Krystal Lake, changes Cass from a semi-villainous jerk to a romantic lead, and make his friendship with Felicia part of the cannon    

 

6. Sharlene Frame's return from the dead sets up the SORASed Maggie and Tomas story, another try at a new generation of Corys 

 

7. Perry Hutchins dies in the hayloft beginning his father Carl's vendetta

 

8. Vince McKinnon recognizes Marissa Love as his presumed-dead wife Mary.

 

9. Morgan Winthrop moves into the Bayview Court beginning the ill-fated "ER/Friends-era" of AW, along with another new opening sequence

 

10.  Walter Curtain kills Wayne Addison with his wife Lenore's scarf.  

 

Edited May 1, 2019 by j swift

[amybrickwallace]

Wow, where do you even begin? I can't believe that AW would have been celebrating its 45th anniversary, and that it's 20 years ago this month that the cancellation was announced.

[teplin]

 

That's quite a list! Hard to quibble with any of it, I'd just sprinkle in a few behind-the-scenes developments, e.g. the hiring, departure and short-lived return of Harding Lemay; the disastrous expansion to 90 minutes; the endlessly revolving door of writers and producers in the last 15-20 years; pressure from NBC to make the show more compatible with DAYS; and Beverlee McKinsey's decision to leave for TEXAS (and not come back in the wake of TEXAS' cancellation).

[danfling]

I would say that the single most important event is the divorce of Rachel and Dr. Russ Matthews and her later pursuit of Steve Frame.

[j swift]

@watson71 posted a fascinating article from the period right before Alan Potter retired as EP in the writer's thread.

 

There's so much to unpack from that article.  Who knew Kyra Sedgwick has a brother (he played Hunter who turned out to be a racist who was mean to Tomasina)?  Why was this newspaper reporter so dismissive of Laura Malone's rights not to be discriminated against because she gained 15 lbs during her pregnancy (two weight puns in one article seems disrespectful)?   Why didn't Chris Rich let them quote him as he was the obvious source of the story?  If Chris, Nancy, and Laura were a "constant threesome", where was the father of Laura's baby? 

 

I went back to the Another World homepage for the 1984 summaries.  I was surprised to read it was Wallingford who made Cecile disappear in the tunnel of love!  That was during the David Thatcher murder investigation when Cecile was trying to cover the fact that she had paid off David to distract Sally from Peter Love, but Carl had hired Nurse Emily Benson to knock off David (I always confuse her with the Dr that caused problems for Sharlene and John).  However, in November Cecile reappeared in time for sweeps, after Kathleen McKinnon had been impersonating her, and then left to marry the King of Tanquir.  Meanwhile, Blaine and Sandy keep getting into fights about reporter's ethics (which is a sudden turn for a former male escort/photographer and his dude rancher/disco manager wife) while working for Carl at KBAY, until they exit the following March.

 

As for Ms. Malone,  Blaine was also pregnant at the beginning of 1984, so it is odd that her weight was such an issue for production.  In the reading of the synopsis, there was no need for a substitute Blaine during Ms. Malone's maternity leave.  Sandy has to go undercover and distance himself from Blaine, for her safety, when investigating Carl, so that could account for her time off without the need to hire another actress.

 

On the other hand, I could understand Chris Rich's concern because that summer saw the ascendance of The Love's of Bay City, as well as the introduction of Caitlin Ewing, who would naturally take screen time away from Sandy.  It also makes sense that show wouldn't want to recast Cecile if they were hoping to keep Chris.

 

I'm left with the question of who raised Kevin Thatcher after he was orphaned?  I hope not Britney since she was definitely going to jail for shooting Peter, Caitlin was too unreliable to care for a small boy, and Grandma Alice didn't seem to take much interest in him.

Edited May 6, 2019 by j swift

[vetsoapfan]

 

Walter killed Wayne Addison by whacking him across the head with a heavy statuette, actually.

[amybrickwallace]

How did the scarf fit into the story?

[Khan]

 

I'm not sure, but from what I remember (from reading Lemay's book), Walter would pull out the scarf and sob into it whenever he was reminded of Wayne's murder.

[amybrickwallace]

Yes, I remember hearing that part and that Lemay found it unintentionally hilarious.